Cake mug with kitchen duck.

Taking quite a literal interpretation of ‘cupcake’, the lovely Sweetcheeks have developed this cake in a mug which would make a perfect present for the coeliac in your life.

What better than coming home on a Friday after a day of being unfairly tempted with the office Krispy Kremes to be able to whip up a cakey hit in 5 minutes flat? This is a potential problem solver for my ongoing dilemma of wanting cake, but not a whole batch! I usually end up going without or more frequently eating all 12 portions before curling in the corner wracked with calorie-induced girly-guilt.

The mug contains enough mix for one, just add an egg, some  oil and milk (or soya milk), mix and pop in the microwave. Ping! Pretty simple, eh?

You would think so. However, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with my space-age yet clementine microwave. (Always wanted to use that word!). Until recently I have been a microwave-free purist; then when CD was diagnosed I became a bread-refreshing, muffin-warming, leftover-heating convert.* But I’m no master. My futuristic popty-ping seems to have 2 settings:

• the very useful ‘spin languidly whilst refusing to heat’,  or
• the highly dramatic ‘explode the porridge’

Can my kitchen nemesis really make a passable cake?

To give you a little insight into the B household at the weekend, I had chosen the exact moment to make this cake that the GEH had chosen to start hoovering (you can even see him in the reflection of the microwave window). I congratulated myself for being so clever – my baking misadventures usually end in vast clouds of cornflour and a lengthy clean-up. This was a self-contained adventure and would give my husband a little break from mopping up after me.  The mix was made in the mug, with no other washing up, and produced a lovely dark, gloopy batter. There was rather a lot in there though – this probably should have been my warning.

And so to the microwaving. I hovered nervously as he hoovered. The cake span around, the whir of the Dyson in the background.

First the smell of cocoa wafted on the breeze. So far, so good.

Then the cake started to grow. And grow. and GROW!

1. So far so good, 2. Uh-oh, 3. CAAAAKKKEEE!

The thought “shall I intervene, or let this carry on for amusement value?” flitted through my mind. Naturally, I chose the latter option. I couldn’t risk a ruined cake! With perfect comic timing, the GEH returned to do the mopping. “B! I leave the kitchen for one moment, and you are making a cake volcano in the microwave?!” Brilliant. “We all have to make sacrifices for our art” I told him. (I didn’t really, but I should have ;))

The result? An excellently textured, rich chocolate cake. A big one.

And the result? Surprisingly good! Eaten still warm, this is a very spongy pudding, with excellent cakey texture. Quite muffiny. I would recommend scooping out the middle, pouring in some cream or ice-cream and digging in with a spoon.  Stirring through some chocolate chips before cooking would also be nice. That and probably using two mugs next time. Yummy!

In the absence of refill mixes, I may well experiment with substituting flours in some gluteny recipes I have found online. Microwave cooking – could be the future. So long as I’m not doing it, that is.

GF Nomability: 8/10 (blame the operator)

*except for scrambled eggs. They have to be done in the pan.